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CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter provided

the methodology used in this research. The first partincluded

the method of research done by the researchers followed by theresearch design, description of respondents, sampling techniques and datagathering procedures. The statistical analysis used in this researchwas

includedin the latter part.

Research Method

This research entitledsPark: Parking Inquiry Module using ShortMessaging Service and Smart Card for Real-time Data Collection

used

a

developmental research approach. According to Richey, Klein and Nelson(2003),developmental research could be eitherof the three:

an instructionaldesign and development effort studied in terms of its process and impact;

aprocedure is studied simultaneously with the performance of instructional designand development; a consentient study of the instructional design, developmentand evaluation process.

Three types of developmental research are known. First is the mostcommon type wherein the product development process is studied and the end-product is evaluated. The next type of developmental research involves in-depth

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research on the impact made by the product on its target users. Last type ofdevelopmental research focuses on the general analysis

of the processesinvolved in the development whether as a component or as a whole.

In this study, the researchers used

the

most common type ofdevelopmental research. The focus of inquiry of the researcherswas

analyzed and discussed then eventually evaluated by the chosenrespondents.

Research Design

This part of the research methodology exhibits the design in which thisresearchwas

structured.Major parts of this study were

attached by thisarrangement in order to address the central research questions. In this research,a graphical representationwas

used to deliver a mental image ofthedataprocessing. Thus, Unified Modeling Language (UML) will be most appropriate.

Unified Modeling Language or UML include behavior and structurediagrams that include graphical notations for specific purposes. In this research,two kinds of behavior diagramwas

used namely Activity and Use CaseDiagrams. Activity Diagrams

show thebusiness processes of organizations usinga collection of shapes and arrows. The most common are rounded rectangles,diamonds, bars, a black circle and an encircled black circle

(Ambler, n. d.).28

Activities are represented by rounded rectangles while diamond stand fordecisions. Bars on the other hand, may start or end simultaneous activities.Lastly, the initial state of the workflow is represented by black circles whereasencircled black circles

are substitutes for the end of the process.Figure 2 showshow these symbols are used in an Activity Diagram.

Figure 2

Unified Modeling Language: Activity Diagram

Use Case Diagram alternatively, is a representation offunctionalities thata system has. It uses actors to depict the user and also included are the actor’sgoals and dependencies

(Ambler, n. d.).

An example of a Use Case Diagram isprovided in Figure 3.

Essential as it is, the research design of this studywas

established by aneffective method suchlike Activity and Use Case Diagrams. The researchersActivity 1

Activity2

Activity3

Start

End

Decision

Yes?

No?

29

were

able to stage the structure of this research by taking on a clear pace withthese two diagrams.

Figure3

Unified Modeling Language: Use Case Diagram

Sampling Technique

The research

selected

respondents from one group of individuals

from theregular customers and staff of the parking facility

using simple random sampling.Simple random sampling was applied

on the selection of the respondents. Thissampling method renders an unbiased outcome because members of thepopulation are given an equal opportunity of being selected (Fink, 2003). Suchevent offered

a credible offset for the researchers on basing

their

conclusion andrecommendation on this research.

The selection processes began

by incurring a list of staff of the car parkand randomly select a representative of that population. In the case of theActor

System Boundary

Process

30

customers, the representatives

from this populationwere also

selected atrandom. Once selected, these representativeswere

assigned to randomnumbers thatwere

processed by a computer to generate a list of prospectiveparticipants.

Description of Respondents

This researchwas

done accordinglywith

the goal of establishing arelationship between the customers and the management (staff). In line with this,the primary respondents who evaluated

this studycame

from

the peopleprevalentand regularat the parking facility. The staff of the University of SantoTomas–

Multi-Deck Parking (UST-MDP)was

represented by 3 respondents. Incontrast, 27 customers of the UST-MDPbecame respondents to this research.All in all, 30 respondents

were

involved in evaluating the study proposed by theresearchers

as shown in Table 1.

Respondents

Individual

Percentage

Management (Staff)

3

10%

Customers

27

90%

TOTAL

30

100%

Table 1

Respondents’ Table

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Research Instruments

The researchers used

theVisual Basic

and PHP Server-side ScriptingLanguage

in developing this study. A GSM modemwas

connected to a personalcomputer (PC) then programmed to send and receive data similar to mobilephone communication. The databasewas

built on mySQL as it is widelysupported and free. The hardware components atthe entry points included a

smart card and a smart card reader thatwere

connected

to the database througha network. A local area network (LAN) setupwas

required to connect theterminals at the entry points of the parking lot to the data repository where

theinformation about parking spaces and feeswere

retrieved.

Data Gathering

Technique

In the development of this

study, the researchers gathered informationfrom a number of sources. The processes involved in traditional ticket-basedparking lots were identified by means of personal communication by theresearcherswith theoperations personnel at the University ofSanto Tomas

Multi-Deck Parking. Studies and literatures cited by the researchers werecollected from books, journals, newspaper articles and the World Wide Web.

TheInformation Systems Curriculum of the University of Santo Tomas contributed tothe researchers’ knowledge of the subject matter.

The research evaluationwas

done using questionnaires

thatwas

distributedto the staff and customers of the parking lot. These questionnaires32

werethen be answered by the staff and customers to determine theeffectiveness of the proposed research.

The questionnaires in this research utilize the Likert scale which is themost extensively used psychometric scale in survey research. Respondentsspecified

their level ofcorrespondence

to the statementsposed on thequestionnaires

withpossibleanswers shown in Table 2.

Scale

Rating

Verbal Interpretation

Customer / Management

5

4.01–

5.0

Strongly Agree

/

Very Effective

4

3.01–

4.0

Agree

/ More Effective

3

2.01–

3.0

Fair

2

1.01–

2.0

Disagree

/

Less Effective

1

0.01–

1.0

Strongly Disagree

/

Least Effective

Table 2

Likert Scale

Statistical Analysis

In describing the study, the researchers made use of the mean. The meanis the average of thevalue

of

the

samples. The average is computed by33

summation of the values of the samples divided by the number of samples. Themean has

well correspondedto

this research in relating the data thatwas

collected because of its relatively simple approach in determiningthe centraltendency. With this, the researchers casuallyplaced